Russian Wintertales: life drawing and storytelling with Manko and Zoetica

On our first session of the year, AMC welcomes 2019 with a celebration of the Old New Year, guest-directed by Zoetica, honouring the mysterious deities of Russian folklore.

Gather ‘round frosty scenes accompanied by evocative readings of winter tales, in English and in Russian, as our models Manko and Moscow-born Zoetica introduce you to a cast of mythical sylphs and dryads – stars of stories dating back to the country’s pagan roots, recited around festive tables and whispered at bedtimes for hundreds of years.

According to the Julian calendar still used by the Russian Orthodox church today, the Old New Year falls on January 14th. Russian Orthodoxy is a fusion of christianity and old-world paganism, which has made for a folk culture steeped in dark mysticism and superstition. In this enchanted realm, seasons are personified, harvests are holy, animals speak, forests mumble, and dark corners teem with all manner of strange creatures. Some are good, others evil, and others yet can grant you wishes – for a price.

Womanhood, too, is sacred, spellbinding. The women in Russian fables are oracles, sorceresses, shapeshifters; a legion of powerful, nuanced beings, whose allegiances take entire sagas to discern. Artists worldwide have long paid tribute to these magnetic characters, and now we invite you to try your hand at capturing them. Join us for a unique evening of ancient folklore and opulent costumes, set your intentions for the coming year, and immerse yourself in the magic of Russian Wintertales.

All levels welcome, join our friendly and social crowd of regulars!

Full bar, and themed soundtrack

Table spaces, comfy seats and easels

Free paper and art materials, courtesy by Great Art.

(£15 in advance, £20 cash on the door)

https://artmodelcollective.bigcartel.com/product/russian-wintertales

Text and graphic by Zoetica, art by Vyacheslav Nazaruk and P. J. Lynch

AMC Sundays at LARA III – KLIMT

Art Model Collective are thrilled to announce that we are starting a collaboration with LARA, bringing you your favourite and much-missed Sunday sessions at London Atelier Of Representational Arts in Clapham North.

In the third edition, AMC models will host a tribute to our favourite artist Gustav Klimt, an Austrian symbolist painter and one of the most prominent members of the Vienna Secession movement. One hundred years since his death (6 February 1918), Klimt remains an immortal representation of opulence and style.

With carefully selected styling and luxurious textiles, we will recreate the sparkling elegance of his ’Golden Phase,’ posing together in a combination of long and short, clothed and nude poses, set to a specially curated soundtrack.

The collaboration between AMC and LARA has been brewing for a while now and is set to blow all traditions away, because finally, our dynamic collective can bring their own style, sparkle, vitality and glamour to the academic environment of the atelier!

This will be a truly unique blend of your beloved AMC events set in an inspiring academic environment. Taking inspiration from the sober and serious environment of the traditional classical atelier that is LARA, we shall see what artistic cocktail can be whipped up with our models at these relaxed, informal 3 hour Sunday afternoon sessions.

These sessions are untutored and open to every level of skill.

LARA provide easels, chairs and drawing boards.

We will have a selection of paper and free materials courtesy of GreatArt. Artists are encouraged to experiment with different media – varied charcoals, pastels, pencils, pens and even chunky markers.

AMC Sundays at LARA II – Schiele

Art Model Collective are thrilled to announce that we are starting a collaboration with LARA, bringing you your favourite and much-missed Sunday sessions at London Atelier Of Representational Arts in Clapham North.

This time AMC models will host a tribute to our favourite artist, Egon Schiele (on December 16 this will be followed by a homage to Klimt).

With his signature graphic style, embrace of figural distortion, and bold defiance of conventional norms of beauty, Egon Schiele was one of the leading figures of Austrian Expressionism.

AMC’s distorted yet elegant interactive poses, inspired by Schiele’s striking and still-shocking images, have been a hit with our life drawing crowd for several years. We will be posing together in a combination of long and short, clothed and nude poses, set to a specially curated soundtrack.

Schiele is famous not only for his psychologically and erotically charged oeuvre but for his intriguing biography: his licentious lifestyle marked by scandal, notoriety, and a tragically early death on 31 October 1918.

The collaboration between AMC and LARA has been brewing for a while now and is set to blow all traditions away, because finally, our dynamic collective can bring their own style, sparkle, vitality and glamour to the academic environment of the atelier!

This will be a truly unique blend of your beloved AMC events set in an inspiring academic environment. Taking inspiration from the sober and serious environment of the traditional classical atelier that is LARA, we shall see what artistic cocktail can be whipped up with our models at these relaxed, informal 3 hour Sunday afternoon sessions.

These sessions are untutored and open to every level of skill.

LARA provide easels, chairs and drawing boards.

We will have a selection of paper and free materials courtesy of GreatArt. Artists are encouraged to experiment with different media – varied charcoals, pastels, pencils, pens and even chunky markers.

AMC Sundays at LARA – I – Frida

Art Model Collective are thrilled to announce that will are starting a collaboration with LARA, bringing you your favourite and well-missed Sunday sessions at London Atelier Of Representational Arts in Clapham North.

Carla and Manko will host tribute to our favourite artist, Frida Kahlo, posing together in a combination of short and long, clothed and nude poses, set to specially curated soundtrack and live reading by our models.

Both AMC models have been posing at LARA for many years, but so far – only individually, in weeks-long sustained extended nude poses, usually in classic contrapposto…. that is, up til now!

This collaboration has been brewing for some time, and finally, our dynamic duo of hard-working full-time models are set to bring their own style, sparkle, vitality and glamour to the sober academic environment of the atelier.

Carla and Manko will plunge deep inside Frida’s creative mind to express our endless respect and admiration for the woman and artist, using the fascinating exhibition at the V&A as the perfect excuse. Let’s celebrate Frida in our own unique way, merging the artist and her paintings into a tableau vivant!

Let’s take the inspiration from the environment of this excellent classical drawing atelier and see what artistic cocktail our models can whip up at these relaxed, informal 3 hour Sunday afternoon sessions! It will be a truly unique blend of your beloved AMC events set in an academic environment.

These sessions will be untutored and open to every level of skill.

LARA provide chairs and drawing boards for all and there are easels available on a first-come, first-served basis.

We will have a selection of paper and free materials courtesy of GreatArt. Artists are encouraged to experiment with different media – varied charcoals, pastels, pencils, pens and even chunky markers. (You are welcome to use wet materials like inks and watercolours, but please bring your own).

AMC at GreatArt: Blade Runner in-store session!

Art Model Collective are thrilled to start a sponsorship deal with GreatArt, London’s best art megastore.
To celebrate the beginning of this exciting partnership, we are bringing a FREE public life drawing session to the GreatArt store in Shoreditch!

Carla and Manko will design a dramatic dynamic costumed drawing session after the classical Blade Runner characters, Rachael and Pris.

The interactive expressive multi-model poses will be set in the “doodling” corner inside the store, and all GreatArt customers are welcome to join in this 3 hour event for free!

AMC: now armed by GreatArt

In two humble years of our existence, we at AMC have enjoyed a few incredible partnership deals. Last year, for example, we were awarded an artist residency at LimeWharf. And this year we enter into a partnership with London’s best art supply store!

Today we are thrilled to announce an exciting sponsorship deal with GreatArt, which means that Art Model Collective sessions will now have a fantastic variety of art materials available for free courtesy of GreatArt! This is truly GREAT news for our drop-ins and first-timers, as well as our more forgetful regulars.

Carla and Manko poring over the catalogue of art materials at the GreatArt store in Shoreditch this morning

We at AMC are lucky to have a friendly and nurturing group of artists. It’s GREAT to see our amazingly talented regulars socialising before, during and after our sessions, discussing each other’s work, sharing tips, and even encouraging each other to try new materials.

And although we can’t decide which style we love more, it’s clear that having a variety of materials at a life drawing session is of GREAT importance.

A bit more about our sponsors:

“GreatArt UK belongs to Gerstaecker family which has been supplying art materials for over 50 years.

The company’s initial customers were therapy centres that used art in all its forms to improve the quality of life for those with disabilities. Today, artists from every walk of life benefit from the Gerstaecker specialist ability to source and supply the finest art materials currently available.

Still very much a family business, Gerstaecker prides itself on the experience and expertise of its managers and staff whose specialist knowledge of the art supplies industry helps to ensure the efficient operation of Europe’s most comprehensive and competitive one-stop shop for quality art materials.”

Pick up GreatArt catalogue at AMC sessions, and ask us for 20% discount voucher

Needless to say, Carla and Manko love the vast and welcoming Shoreditch store, where customers can enjoy a complimentary coffee while trying out art materials and specialist paper in the bright comfortable designated area.

And watch this space! It’s where Art Model Collective are bringing a special free life drawing session in June, to thank GreatArt staff and customers for this brilliant partnership.

AMC’s Manko and Carla in the window of GreatArt store

From now on, GREAT ART will be officially made at our sessions!We can finally raise our “I Love Art” brand pencils to celebrate the fact that Art Model Collective’s sessions will have a seductive variety of art materials to help you create even more greatness from life.